


a saint through his (ugly) glasses

by tripleposition



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: 2park, 99z, Alternate Universe - College/University, College!AU, Fluff, M/M, because i cant angst with this pure ship, because this ship deserves all the fics and love, dont search for "im 19 u fite me" jihoon here, fashion disaster jihoon, im back again with another 2park fic, jihoon is the Softest Human Being, nerdy jihoon, only in jihoons eyes though, woojin is a saint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2018-12-05 11:58:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11577630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tripleposition/pseuds/tripleposition
Summary: It all started when Woojin's hot chocolate that he was dying to take a sip of was catapulted into the air and onto his sweater.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> In less than 24 hours, im back with another 2park fic because im this far up their asses yeay!!! 
> 
> This time it'll be a chaptered fic though i dont know long it'll be. 
> 
> Warning: possible grammar mistakes ahead because i cant english properly and im too lazy to ask anyone to proofread

It was a pleasant morning. And this was a big deal coming from someone who absolutely loathes waking up early on a daily basis. Woojin felt a content smile tugging up his lips so he just let it be. He knew he might looked like an eyesore or an idiot to other people who were obviously trying their damned hardest to stay awake and go to cursed morning classes; he is usually included among those people after all. But not for today, though. 

Mornings like this is hard to come by; it'll only happen when he had a particularly good sleep that lasts for 8 hours or more, when he completed and submitted a soul draining assignment yesterday, when it's his birthday, and when it's Friday. For the cause of his good mood this morning fell under the second and last categories.

Yesterday during his last class of the day, he had nearly cried after submitting the crucial assignment that counted forty percent of marks that he needed to pass the class and it also almost made him lose his grip on reality and when he went back to his dorm room afterwards, he did cry a little into his pillow because of how much he missed his comfortable bed. He had 6 hours of sleep last night and that was still more than what he usually got. Not to mention, it was Friday today which meant more promised sleep after the last class that ends around noon.

Woojin was in such a good mood that he lightly skipped in his steps and he also got a nice hot chocolate that smelled heavenly in his hand that was waiting to be drank once he was seated in class, courtesy of Im Youngmin, his best friend who works at the café he frequents.

Ah, it was such a good morning.

It really was, until a blur of movement coming out from the corner he was supposed to walk into blocked his view and then proceeded to bump into him and his hand that was holding his precious hot chocolate, sending him toppling backwards and catapulting the cup in his grip. Woojin could literally saw it all happen in a slow-motion; the cup he accidentally catapulted flying mid-air, the lid coming off in the process, the dark brown liquid that still smelled like heaven splashing out of the cup, landing perfectly only on his fortunately black sweater.

The hot hot chocolate seeped slowly but effectively into his thick sweater and Woojin can hear the sound of an empty paper cup falling gracefully on the spotless floor. He stared lifelessly at his now wet and sticky clothes. Who was he kidding? Good mornings do not exist.

"Oh my god! I-I'm so so sorry! Oh my god," The panic ridden voice of the culprit that shattered his good mood in bits made him finally look up from his drenched sweater and he could feel his anger mixed with annoyance bubbling in the pit of his stomach, ready to be let out towards the guy in front of him.

His narrowed, filled with disdain eyes slowly trailed up the culprit's figure, starting with his shoes that has mismatched neon laces. Woojin's eyes trailed upwards even further; the culprit was wearing black and white striped socks, blue jeans paired with a red flannel and a yellow smiley t-shirt inside. And at last, his eyes that had narrowed even further on its way up landed on the culprit's face and what caught his attention first was the so-hideous-it's-insulting thick-rimmed square glasses that did not have prescription, which only meant that this guy wore it for fashion purpose. Thank god he has normal brown hair-- though it was a bit too long that it hid his ears and his bangs almost covering the eyes and glasses simultaneously.

"Oi, what the fu-" Woojin's voice trailed off, after starting so abruptly and loudly. He actually met the guy's eyes properly this time and oh shit. There were unshed tears in his big round eyes that were threatening to spill and Woojin thought that if he raised his voice any higher, the guy might actually cry. What the fuck, he was the one who should be crying right now; he was drenched in sticky hot chocolate that was supposed to go into his tummy, not him.

The anger slash annoyance that he felt earlier quickly dissipated into nothing, replaced with exasperation and a little bit of worry. 

The fashion terrorist was hugging his backpack so tightly against his chest that Woojin could see how his knuckles turned white. And he was trembling a little-- he was probably trying to hide it but Woojin could see it anyway.

Unnerved by Woojin's sudden silence, the guy suddenly bowed down so low he was practically bent in half. "I-I'm sorry! It was my f-fault for being so careless! P-Please forgive me! I'm so stupid, oh my god-" He sounded so scared. Does Woojin look that intimidating and scary?

"Hey, hey, wait. Hey, please calm down. I'm not mad I promise. Please, stop bowing." Woojin tentatively put his hands on the other's shoulders, trying to comfort the probably-on-the-verge-of-panicking guy. He tensed once Woojin's hands came in contact with his shoulders but then he relaxed a bit after hearing Woojin's comforting words.

Sensing that the guy was eventually, relaxed and calmed down, Woojin let go of his shoulders. The guy cautiously stood up straight again, eyes looking everywhere but at Woojin. All he could do was sigh. "Look," Woojin started gently. "I'm not mad anymore, okay? It was an accident and it was partly my fault too for not paying attention to my surroundings." 

The other blinked twice and sniffled, his previously tear-filled eyes drying up fast. When he realized Woojin was being sincere and won't lash out at him, he nodded frantically. "I-I'm really sorry. And your sweater..." He bit his lips guiltily, tugging his backpack closer to his chest.

Sighing softly, Woojin pulled at the sweater that was starting to get stuck at his body in mild disgust. It was so sticky and uncomfortable. He would have to turn back and change at his dorm even though the morning class was starting in ten minutes or less. He'd rather enter the class late with fresh clothes than hear lectures for two hours in sticky wet uncomfortable clothes. 

"Oh! Wait, I think uhh- I have a fresh sweater in my bag." The nameless guy proceeded to drop down on one knee and rummaged through his bag. Woojin was about to kindly decline because really, seeing how this guy clothed himself, who knows what kind of sweater he had with him. But before Woojin could do just that, the guy let out a small sound of victory, then stood up with a sweater in his hands.

Baby blue and grey. Oh, it was the college's sweater. Thank goodness.

The guy handed Woojin the sweater with a barely suppressed excitement; his eyes twinkling as Woojin took it without any other words. He was without a doubt happy he found a way to fix his mess. Woojin found it a tiny bit cute. Just teeny.

"Thanks. I'll uhh, I'll go change in the restroom." Woojin folded the sweater in half carefully and the guy nodded again, smiling widely. 

Woojin stepped aside and started to make his way towards the restroom further in front but stop short when he remembered something. "Oh wait, what's your name? And how do I return this sweater to you?" He turned towards the nameless walking fashion disaster. The guy looked stunned for a moment but he recovered quickly. "Park Jihoon. I have world history and English classes with you," Oh shit, he has two classes with this guy- with Park Jihoon and he didn't even notice? Even with his eye-catching terrible fashion taste? At least Jihoon didn't look mad he didn't recognize him.

"Oh, alright. I'll give it back to you whenever I see you around, I guess?" Woojin rubbed his nape sheepishly. The guy-- no, Jihoon nodded again and then pointed hesitantly to the empty cup on the floor. "Sorry for your drink."

Woojin shrugged and waved it off. "Nah, I got it for free anyway. Bye, see ya!" With that, he brisk walked to the restroom without looking back to change his clothes since class was almost starting.

 

The next time he saw Park Jihoon was when he was on his way to dance practice on a rainy Tuesday. 

It had been raining even before he got out from his room so he had the chance to pick up the rarely used black umbrella hung behind his door on his way out. He half-jogged to the practice room while making sure to avoid stepping in dirty puddles and halfway towards his destination, that was when he saw him.

It was hard to miss him when he was wearing the kind of clothes that Woojin would try to avoid wearing except maybe if he was dared to or if someone's paying him to. Jihoon was clad in a bright red and yellow striped long sleeve shirt with suspenders that honestly made him look like he's promoting McDonalds. His jeans were folded at the bottom until they showed his also bright red socks that could stop a traffic. At least his shoes were just a normal pair of black converse. 

A few more seconds of staring at the brightly-dressed boy made him realized that he was completely and utterly drenched, from head to toe. It was then that Woojin also noticed that Jihoon was just sitting there, on the bench beside the fountain with his head hung low. He wasn't even trying to look for any shelter to avoid the endlessly falling rain. Jihoon just sat there unmoving; his hunched posture screamed the word "Sad" so strongly.

Woojin's feet moved on their own, going straight towards the miserable looking boy without any second thoughts. He didn't know what he was actually going to do when he reached the other but he'll worry about that later. 

Upon reaching Jihoon, his feet skidded to a stop right in front of him; close enough that Jihoon was safely placed under his thankfully big umbrella too and after realizing the sudden halt of rain, the boy glanced up from his feet, blinking at Woojin with his big eyes in surprise (Woojin tried to ignore the ugly glasses that was still perched on the bridge of his nose) and gaped.

To be really honest, Woojin didn't know what actions he was supposed to take next, but seeing Jihoon sad and drenched under the rain so miserably like this made his heart squeeze tightly and unpleasantly so he just had to do something, to cheer this guy up. Don't even ask why he cared because he can't answer that either.

They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity; a result from Jihoon being too surprised at his sudden presence to say anything and Woojin who was mentally constructing sentences that might be okay to say to the vulnerable boy. 

Sensing that Jihoon was not going to speak up anytime soon, Woojin took that as his cue to talk first.

"It's raining." He intelligently started, pointing out the most obvious thing in the world. Jihoon's mouth snapped shut once he realized he had been gaping like a fish but he still didn't say a word so Woojin took that as chance to elaborate.

"You're soaked to the bones, you shouldn't be sitting here." There, a sentence that actually made sense. Woojin mentally patted himself on the back. Talking about back, he can feel his own damn back getting a little bit wet from the rain but he paid it no mind.

Jihoon fiddled with his also soaked and widely opened bag. Woojin can't help but noticed the contents inside the bag; they're all completely wet, including a white shirt. A question popped inside his head about Jihoon's habit of bringing a spare shirt everywhere in his bag but maybe he'll ask later, when the guy didn't look and feel like shit.

"I... fell into the fountain." 

Woojin blinked. Now, he wasn't expecting that. "...what?"

Jihoon let out a small defeated sighed before abruptly straightening up, plastering a fake smile that he might thought would convince Woojin that he was fine. He chuckled humorlessly, rubbing his nape. "I was actually soaked even before the rain started coming down. I fell inside the fountain because of how clumsy I am. Ha ha," 

Choosing not to point out on his bullshit, Woojin hummed. "Still, you can't just sit under the rain like this. Even if you're already drenched. You'll get sick. Come on," Jihoon let out a surprised noise when Woojin grabbed him by the arm and forced him to stand under the umbrella with him. Then he gently pushed the heavily soaked boy on the back to make him start walking towards the closest roofed building, with himself following closely behind to make sure they were both not exposed to the rain.

Once they had safely avoided the rain, Woojin sat on one of the chairs around the building and pulled Jihoon to sit on the seat beside him; he's basically man-handling the other but he can't really give a damn at the moment. After they're both sitted, Woojin shook and spun the umbrella in his hand to dry it off a little before folding it and putting it next to his feet. His friends at the dance practise can wait. 

The glasses-wearing boy was silent; his cheeks were red probably from embarrassment and his eyes were darting fast between his hands and Woojin's face. Can't blame him for being confused at Woojin's actions-- he was too.

Strangers. That was the title or status they both would recognize each other as. But Woojin's not so sure anymore; they might had had upgraded to acquaintance.

Whatever. Woojin was just being a nice, responsible human being that tried helping another being in need. What's there to think about?

"Don't you have somewhere to go before you saw me?" Jihoon softly asked, voice laced with uncertainty. Woojin leaned back against the chair and stretched his limbs nonchalantly. "I do. I have dance practice actually," he sighed dropping his arms back down on his laps and tried smiling reassuringly at the other. It seemed to do the exact opposite of reassuring though, because Jihoon quickly turned his head elsewhere like he had seen a sudden bright light, or something gross. Was it his snaggletooth? Damn, way to make him feel insecure about it.

"O-oh, you dance? That's super cool!" 

"Yeah, I've been dancing my whole life," 

A few seconds of awkward silence engulfed the both of them. That was until Woojin remembered that Jihoon was fully soaked, hair still dripping wet and now the other's jaw was tightened to prevent his teeth from chattering he wrapped his arms around himself because of the cold. 

Yanking his bag that he had put on the ground into his lap while managing to startle Jihoon in the process, he promptly dig through his belongings. 

"Uhh, w-what are you doing-"

"Found it," He stood in silent triumph, slinging his bag around one shoulder and faced the puzzled boy. 

"What-" Jihoon's next words were cut off, or in this case, muffled. The baby blue face towel thrown on his head was one of many Woojin's fluffy face towels that he owns. Figured it won't hurt giving it to someone who really needed it. Seeing how Jihoon was still taken aback by the towel's assault, Woojin decided to help him came back to his senses by ruffling his hair with the towel.

"At least keep your hair dry or you'll quickly catch a cold," He stopped then, afraid he might went a bit too far with the ruffling because Jihoon was silent the whole time, when a snort and a chuckle coming from beneath the towel reassured him that Jihoon was indeed not feeling uncomfortable. The latter playfully slapped his hands away and grabbed the hems of the towel, still giggling. What Woojin saw once the towel was pulled down gave him a heart attack-- that lasted for approximately 3 seconds-- but a still a heart attack. His heart throbbed at the sight in front of him; Jihoon's sad excuse of a glasses had fell along with the towel and now his fucking twinkling big doe eyes were staring at him so brightly he might need a pair of sunglasses in this rainy cloudy weather.

And not to mention, his hair which was all ruffled and messed up revealed his forehead clearly and now Woojin actually saw Jihoon's face for the first time; his face without the long bangs that curtained his face most of the time and the hideous square framed glasses. For god sake, Jihoon was grinning up at him, like Woojin just gifted him the best Christmas present ever. It was undeniably freaking adorable.

Oh wow now, let's not go there, you fucking creep. He's feeling grateful and you're here being a creepy creep, you creep.

As if slapped by an instant force of reality, Woojin balled his fist in front of his mouth and let out a loud cough to get his mind focus on what's important. A little too loud honestly because now his throat stung.

"Uh, here. Your sweater. Thanks for lending it to me when I fucked up mine the other day. And don't worry, I washed it." He carefully handed Jihoon the sweater and the latter took it quietly, a smile still plastered on his cute face. Wow, stop it, Park Woojin. Get your ass to the dance practice, you grade-A creep.

"I uhh, I need to get going. You know, to the dance practice." He bent forward to pick up his umbrella and proceeded to open it.

"O-Oh," Jihoon's smile finally slid off his face but now he looked like disappointed puppy and Woojin just wanted to get the fuck out of there. "See you around, I guess?" He attempted a half-hearted wave as he slowly walked backwards. "Okay," A soft reply from Jihoon.

Then he turned on his heels and determinedly made his way towards his initial destination. 

But barely ten steps later he sighed in defeat before turning around again and jogged to the already-slumped-in-his-seat boy. Jihoon shortly noticed him coming his way again after though and he stood up in question. "Did you left something-"

Woojin ungracefully thrust the umbrella into Jihoon's hand. "You'll need to go back to your room," and with that he turned around for the third time and finally ran straight into the rain with his bag held up uselessly above his head, leaving the blinking and startled boy behind.


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay, so you're telling me you were late to dance practice yesterday because you were helping a guy, that was soaked to the bones, because of the rain? What is he? A nine years old kid?" Jinyoung scoffed disbelievingly.

The roommates were lying on their respective beds, getting ready to sleep. Well, _supposed_ to because Bae Jinyoung just won't stop interrogating Woojin about his encounter with Jihoon yesterday. When Woojin asked why he was so adamant on knowing the details, Jinyoung answered " _because_ , you're Park Woojin. And Park Woojin is never late to dance practice even if he got hit by a car ten minutes before the practice starts." He explained matter-of-factly and Woojin hated it that Bae Jinyoung was right.

"You're exaggerating; I would have gone to hospital first— _then_ to the dance practice," he tried joking, to shift the conversation because he had no idea how to answer Jinyoung's questions. He didn't even know himself why he automatically acted so kind and concerned whenever he's with Jihoon. It was probably the big irresistible puppy eyes behind the ugly spectacles– Jinyoung would understand if he sees it for himself.

Jinyoung snorted at his words and threw a pillow at him, which he quickly deflected with a swing of an arm. The pillow landed on the floor between them with a soft plop, and Jinyoung made grabby hands at it. "Ugh, give it back. I need at least three pillows to be able to sleep; I only have four without it." Woojin scoffed and kicked the pillow with much difficulty with his current sprawled position closer to his roommate. "You were the one who threw it first,"

"Yeah, and you were supposed to get hit by it and then return it to me,"

"Oh my god, shut up and sleep."

 

 

Having lunch in the college's cafeteria was something that Woojin rarely did but since Jinyoung had found out he had been skipping lunch in favour of getting some naps in the campus' air-conditioned library, Jinyoung had been tracking him down every day after morning classes just to forcefully drag his ass to cafeteria to eat lunch.

So now he was sitting at one of tables in the cafeteria between Jinyoung and Donghyun, with Daniel and Seongwoo on the other side of the table.

And like Jinyoung, they were all curious about the Boy who made Woojin came late to practice the other day. Curse Jinyoung for bringing the topic up again when they were with the others who are equally as busybody as he is.

"Just freaking tell us who the boy is, okay? And nobody will get hurt," Seongwoo said as he picked a banana and pointed it towards Woojin like he's holding a gun. When the younger stared impassively for 10 seconds flat at the banana, Seongwoo grumbled in defeat before peeling the yellow fruit and ate it sulkily.

"Ong is right, though. Why can't you just tell us?" Donghyun said as he stabbed at his raw carrots with his fork in disgust. "That's Ong hyung to you, you brat." Seongwoo chewed grumpily. Donghyun muttered something under his breath along the lines of "Then start acting like one," but Woojin's not so sure. He sighed and ruffled his newly dyed red hair; something he did yesterday because he was bored looking at his dark brown hair.

 

"Because if I tell you then you'll try to search for him and stalk him to see if he's someone who might be able date me," Woojin was not exaggerating, it happened before. He had accidentally told them that he thought this one guy at a cafe looked cool; a day after Woojin found the guy sitting reluctantly with him and his friends at the library. His friends left 10 minutes later because of a sudden _emergency_ , leaving the two of them awkwardly staring at each other. He had apologized profusely then, explaining that his crazy deluded friends were trying to play pranks on him (he can't exactly tell the guy that they were setting them up– he didn't even know if the guy was straight or not!) and the guy thankfully brushed it off, told him it was fine and then excused himself. That was thankfully the last time Woojin saw him.

Donghyun opened his mouth probably to deny the obvious fact and defend himself but one withered look from Woojin successfully shut him up.

 

"So??? We did that to make sure you don't feel lonely and die alone in the future!" The roommate countered.

"Yeah! It's been forever since you last dated anybody," Seongwoo added, with a mouth full of chewed banana, which was disgusting. Woojin rolled his eyes away from the sight.

"I can take care of my love life myself, thank you very much. I just don't feel like dating anybody right now when I can barely give myself some proper rest," Woojin huffed. He's telling the truth; he got no time to spare to look for a boyfriend when he was constantly buried six feet deep under assignments and daily dance practices. Even if he did get a boyfriend, Woojin doubt he can be a good lover since he is, well, Park Woojin the emotionally constipated guy.

"Alright alright, we get it. You're a busy college student with no time for love," Donghyun mockingly said.

Daniel who had been quietly laughing to himself watching the group of friends bother the red-haired boy, tapped the table twice and pointed somewhere behind Woojin's back. "Do any you know that fluorescent guy? He keeps looking this way nervously and I can't concentrate on laughing,"

 

Blinking in confusion, Woojin turned his head towards where Daniel pointed and almost immediately his eyes were assaulted by a bright pink thing. Upon closer inspection (read: after squinting his eyes to adjust to the brightness) that _thing_ turned out to be none other than the main object of their conversation seconds ago­­— Park Jihoon, in all his fluorescent glory sitting a few tables away from them, unbeknownst to his friends.

"Oh my god, I think I just went blind for a moment," Seongwoo rubbed his eyes before focusing on Jihoon again. The whole table was now looking at hard-to-miss Jihoon with much difficulty thanks to his obnoxiously bright pink sweater.

 

Woojin sweated.

 

Realizing the stares directed at him, Jihoon’s already wide eyes widened even more, face redden visibly, and he spun forward facing the guy he was sitting with. Jihoon and the guy probably argued then—judging by the way their arms flail around as they talk— before the guy slammed his hands on the table top, stood up and pulling Jihoon along with him dramatically. Woojin realized belatedly that the guy was pushing the resisting Jihoon forcefully towards him and his friends. 

They all watched the scene unfold in front of them in silent amusement, except for a certain red-haired boy.

 

Jihoon unceremoniously reached the side of Woojin’s table, the unknown guy still behind him still grabbing him by the shoulders to prevent him from escaping. “Daehwi-“ Jihoon moved to remove the guy’s hands— Daehwi’s hands— but the newly named guy glared and shook him instead. Jihoon deflated, face impeccably red.

“Um… what’s going on?” Jinyoung finally asked, confused and amused at the same time.

Daehwi manhandled his friend who was slowly but surely dying from embarrassment to the side a little bit to finally show himself clearly. A boy who Woojin thinks kind of resembles otter-like face appeared. Jinyoung choked on his own spit.

“Hi! I’m Daehwi and my roommate here-“ He slapped Jihoon on the back, making the poor boy jumped in surprise. “-has to talk to Park Woojin.” All eyes fell on Woojin and he mentally cursed.

“Um, hi Jihoon,” Park Woojin smartly said.

Jihoon just looked like he wanted to die right there and honestly, same, Woojin wanted to die too. Seongwoo whistled when something clicked in his head. “Wait a second, Woojin, is this the guy? He is, right? Right?” At that, all of Woojin’s now ex-friends began to let out a chorus of “Ohh’s” and “Ahh’s” much to his dismay.

Deciding to save some face he had left, Woojin stood up from his seat (shoving Donghyun and Jinyoung purposely in the process) and gestured for Jihoon to follow him out of the cafeteria to talk, away from his wolf-whistling and useless now _ex_ -friends.

 

 

“So, uh, you want to talk to me?” Woojin unconsciously scratched his nape in pure habit— something he would do when he’s embarrassed or nervous. He tried to reassuringly smile at Jihoon, which probably turned out like a grimace instead. The latter fiddled with his fingers, looking everywhere but Woojin.

“Sorry,” he finally said, albeit so softly that Woojin had to strain his ears.

“What? What are you sorry for?” It was safe to say that Woojin was taken aback by the sudden apology— when in fact _he_ was the one who should be apologizing to Jihoon for his sad excuse of friends’ just now.

“For suddenly showing up in front of you and your friends,” his head hung lower than it already was.

 

Do you know what kicked puppy looks like? If you don’t, just look at Jihoon’s face at the moment and it’ll answer the question because he looked exactly what a kicked puppy would look like. Woojin’s heart squeezed at the sight. He hates it when puppies get hurt.

“What- No! It’s okay! Please don’t worry about it. It’s okay, really.” He reassured.

The puppy or also known as Park Jihoon looked up at him, sniffing weakly and Woojin swore to god there were stars twinkling in his hopeful eyes. “Really? It’s okay? Because you seemed like you didn’t want me to be there with your friends just now,” A snort forced it way through before Woojin can stop himself. “I didn’t want _them_ to be with _you._ I _saved_ you from demons just now, trust me. They’re ridiculous,” Fortunately this managed to crack Jihoon a tiny smile and Woojin mentally sighed in relief. “Okay,” Jihoon sniffed again and nodded.

“So, what is it?”

The resident fashion terrorist pulled his bag into his lap which Woojin didn’t notice he brought from earlier and rummaged into it— a scene which was becoming a bit familiar among them. After a few seconds of struggling, he eventually tugged something out of his bag and placed it carefully on Woojin’s lap. It was his umbrella and towel, the ones he gave to Jihoon the other day.

 

“Oh, you wanted to return this?” Woojin picked them up, realizing that the towel smelled like a fabric softener. Jihoon gave him an almost shy nod that pulled at Woojin’s heartstrings.

“Thank you for letting me borrow those, even when you also needed the umbrella.” Jihoon smiles softly at him, and Woojin can feel how sincere, and pure it was. Woojin did not think he did much– he’s quite confused. The other boy sounded like Woojin was a saint who saved him from an impending hypothermia and bless him with his presence. Isn’t it normal for people to lend things to other people who needs them more in any situation? Well yeah, not for a bunch of selfish jerks in the corrupted world but for the others, maybe. Or maybe Woojin was reading too much into this?

“Ah, don’t worry about it. You needed it more than I do,”

“Oh, okay.”

“…”

“…”

 

Being discreet was probably something that Jihoon was unfamiliar with because right at that moment he was fiddling with his fingers and biting his chapped lips repeatedly- signs that Woojin assumed where Jihoon was nervous.

“Jihoon, do you have something to say?” He flinched like he was caught red-handed trying to steal a cookie from a jar. So Woojin was right; he’s nervous.

 

“I,” Jihoon paused, and then bit his lips as he was visibly trying to weight options in his head. “I-I want to ask you for a favour,” Now that was a bit unexpected but Woojin stayed quiet to let Jihoon explain himself. Seeing how Jihoon was getting embarrassed as each second passed by, Woojin started to feel nervous himself. “What is it, Jihoon?” The red-faced boy sighed in defeat and faced away from Woojin, speaking in the softest volume ever (now that Woojin think about it, everything about Jihoon is soft) since they talked.

“After the next Mr. Lee’s class, can we- can you walk with me to my room?” Jihoon shut his eyes tight like he was expecting a rejection but was instead given a heavy sigh of relief. “Oh thank god,” Jihoon’s eyes flickered opened in confusion.

“I thought you were going to ask me to lend you money, I’m broke enough as it is.” Woojin chuckled. He leaned back against the bench they were sitting on and then shrugged. “Sure, I can do that, it’s nothing too hard.” It sure was but Jihoon didn’t have to know that Woojin was mentally debating with himself over the possible reasons Jihoon asked _him_ to walk him home and how the boy was so nervous about it. Jihoon brightened immediately, leaning a little bit too close towards him in excitement. “Really? Thank you so much!”

“But,” Woojin started and Jihoon’s face fell in a millisecond; it’s an interesting sight to watch Jihoon wearing his heart out on his sleeve.

“But?”

“Let me know why,” He kind of regretted saying that because now Jihoon was back to being his usual anxious self. He saw how other was uncomfortable with his question and Woojin was about to backtrack when Jihoon spoke.

 

“Alright, but don’t be mad, please?” He peered at Woojin carefully like he’s afraid he was going to just cancel out on helping him and leave him there. Woojin sighed tiredly, “I won’t,”

“I need you to accompany me because,” Jihoon straightened and scanned the surrounding areas like he was about to tell Woojin a big secret. “-because a bunch of guys have been waiting for me after my classes sometimes and they forced me to do their works and if I refused- which I have been doing- they’ll get upset and start to pick on me, saying how I should have had just listen to them because I’ll get to hang out with them while I work on their papers because, let me quote one of them “Nobody really wants to be seen with you when you’re always embarrassingly dressed like a rainbow puke,” so that’s why I need you to walk me back to my room since I trust you and you’re nice.”

Woojin frowned; first, because Jihoon was talking too fast and he had too strain his ears to catch every word and second, because Jihoon was basically telling him that he was being bullied, by some guys that are apparently still childish enough to do this kind of thing in college even when they’re almost legal adults. And then his encounters with Jihoon before flooded his mind in a wave of realization. “Is that why you were running until you bumped into me and my coffee the first time? You were running from them?” To make it worse, Jihoon just sullenly nodded.

“What about the other day, when you were soaked to the bones? It was their doing too?” Woojin’s inside was flaring in anger and disdain at these so called young adults.

“Yeah, I’ve always managed to run away from them but that day one of the guys pushed me into the fountain before I can walk away from them.” He looked so upset and frustrated that tears were welling in his eyes and Woojin just need names and locations before he can go find these guys himself to punch their teeth off their faces by now.

If there’s one thing that Woojin can’t absolutely tolerate, it would be bulllshit. Woojin can’t tolerate bullshits and these guys are just a bunch of bullshits that live to make another people’s life miserable. And for god sake, out of all people they _just had_ to pick on Jihoon who was an embodiment of innocent and pure itself, minding his own business and wearing what he likes because it’s _his_ _body_.

 

Taking a deep, deep breath to calm himself from turning into a raging hulk, Woojin tried to think about how Jihoon wouldn’t probably like it if he uses violence against people because he’s _Jihoon._ Sensing how tense Woojin was, Jihoon hung his head low. “A-Are you mad? Because it seems like I’m using you to protect myself? But I swear I wasn’t trying to- “

“I’m not mad. Not at you at least,” Woojin cut him off and stood up, holding out a hand to Jihoon. “Give me your phone,” He demanded impatiently. The other instantly stood up straight- stumbling in the process- to pull his phone out of his pants pocket and handed it over to Woojin with both hands, still ever so respectful of people. No offence but if those guys had chosen to bully him, he would have bashed their heads in and then live a life with no faith in humanity ever again.

 

He typed in his number into Jihoon’ contact- he could care less that Jihoon was practically still a stranger to him- he already knows some things about Jihoon which none of them fall in the negative side and Jihoon was asking _Woojin_ for help because apparently nobody else cared enough to help him when he was publicly bullied so Woojin will do what he has to do, help Jihoon.

“There, I saved my number in your contacts. I will walk with you anytime when I don’t have classes and so when I’m not there with you and they appear, call me and tell me where you are at, I’ll find you, okay?” Woojin did realize that he’s being protective as fuck over someone he barely knew but whatever, as long as Jihoon’s fine.

A loud sniff from Jihoon snapped Woojin out from his Protective Mode. There were tears threatening to fall from his eyes and Woojin’s eyes bulged out in panic. Fuck, what did he do? “Uh, what, please- please don’t cry,” He held two hands up to reassure Jihoon, to tell him to calm down because if he did cry then Woojin’s in deep shit since he’s far from being good at comforting a sobbing person, let alone someone he doesn’t know much about.

“I- I’m just, really grateful I met you. Thank you, you’re really kind.” Jihoon sniffed again twice and tried to hold back his tears by tilting his head back. He laughed a little then through his ongoing sniffling. “Nobody really cares enough to go this far for me, I mean, Daehwi would I think but he doesn’t know because I don’t want to tell him. Please don’t tell him, okay? He’s strong-willed but he’s younger and physically weaker than me, and he’s busy enough being a scholarship student-” Jihoon continued blabbering as he dried his eyes and Woojin watched him in silence, all kinds of emotions bubbling inside him after talking to Jihoon.

Well, fuck everyone else who knew about Jihoon’s situation but didn’t bother to help him, because _he_ _will_.

 

 

The first time they walked together was about two days later, when Jihoon texted him that he got a morning class with the jerks but reassured Woojin that they won’t bother him during the morning because they probably can’t give two shits about him when it’s still so early in the day. Woojin wanted to insist that he can keep Jihoon company on his way to his class, but the problem was, Jihoon texted him at seven in the morning and Woojin being the lazy ass he was, just woke up to read the message at ten o’clock just because he had a class in another hour.

At least he still can see Jihoon after his morning class ended, he still got time. So Woojin shoved his comforter aside as he got off his comfortable bed and showered (because he didn’t when he came back from dance practice last night much to Bae Jinyoung’s dismay) to get ready for his own class. When he’s done and ready to go, he texted Jihoon himself.

 

**_Woojin P.  
_ ** _hey wheres your class and what time does it ends_

****_Park Jihoon  
_ _at the third lecture hall in my department building  
in about ten minutes, why?_

Woojin locked his phone and shoved it into his pocket– didn’t even bother replying to Jihoon’s _‘why’_ – to slip on his shoes and made his way out of the dorm room. He’ll have to be quick to reach Jihoon’s class in ten minutes.

 

Woojin was panting by the time he arrived outside of Jihoon’s class. Thank god the class was just about to end so Woojin composed himself and tried to act like he didn’t just run faster than Usain Bolt to wait for Jihoon.

Students start flittering out of the lecture hall and Woojin stood by door to wait for Jihoon and also to pinpoint which jerks Jihoon was talking about. Eventually, Jihoon finally came out (he’s the last person to leave) of the hall, he flinched in surprise when Woojin stepped in front of him out of nowhere. His expression brightened instantly in recognition when his brain finally registered that it was Woojin. And Woojin kind of softened at the sight but Jihoon didn’t need to know that.

“Woojin! What are you doing here?” Jihoon smiled so brightly Woojin might need two sunglasses to block out the literal sun standing in front of him. No seriously, Jihoon’s smile _combined_ with his also bright orange sweater didn’t do his eyes good but it’s okay, he can live with that.

“I just want to know which ones are the jerks, tell me.” Woojin said as seriously as he could and stepped aside to let Jihoon’s eyes scan the crowd the just left the hall. Jihoon hummed as he searched for them and snapped his fingers once he located them. He hid himself behind Woojin, pushing his sliding glasses up his nose before trying to discreetly point them out. “There, right beside vending machine. They’re all there and the one who pushed me into the fountain the other day was the one in all black clothes.” He frowned as he talked– Woojin tried as he could to not stare at the human version of Jigglypuff hiding behind him– and then he glanced up at Woojin, successfully making his brain short circuit at sheer power of cuteness Jihoon exuded. _What the fuck._

“See? I don’t think they’re going to pick on me in the morning. They usually wait in the class if they want to,”

Woojin snapped out of his reverie at Jihoon’s words, anger quickly replacing his dazed state. He turned around to locate the piece of shits and when he did, he swears. They’re talking to each other, laughing when one of them said something– they look _happy and unbothered._ And Jihoon’s right here, having to be cautious with his surroundings everyday just to avoid those immature bullies and getting his day ruined when he’s caught; opposite of happy and unbothered.

Resentment Woojin’s feeling towards the jerks grew by a billion times and he had to mentally calm himself down from stomping over towards them and knock their teeth off. He took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds– Jihoon staring at him in silence the whole time because he didn’t response– and then exhaled heavily, his needs to be violent towards the jerks disappearing along with it. He abruptly turned towards Jihoon and Jihoon jumped back in surprise– his eyes still trying to read Woojin’s expression.

“Okay, got it. Let’s avoid them. Do you have another class after this?” Woojin peeked at his wristwatch to look at the time. 15 more minutes before his own class starts.

“I do. But in one more hour or so. I’m going to the library to do my work while I wait,”

“Alright, I’ll see you off at the library. Let’s go.”

Jihoon squeaked as Woojin grabbed his arm and pulled him closer as they started walking, slinging his arm around Jihoon’s shoulders to hid him as they passed by the bullies.

 

 

It became something usual between them; Woojin dropping off or picking up Jihoon from his class, whether Jihoon had classes with the bullies or not. Jihoon tried to insist that Woojin didn’t have to accompany him every time he goes to class but Woojin being the stubborn guy he is, waved it off and assured the other that he was doing this because he wanted too.

Sometimes, after Woojin had parted ways with Jihoon, he wondered. Wondered why he’s doing all this for Jihoon– when all he wanted to do before was sleep in bed and never wake up because he’s just that lazy. It’s not as if Jihoon had promised him any sort of payment or gift so he thought hard about _why_ he’d go this far to help someone who was just a stranger before.

Then the image of the jerks circling Jihoon– picking on him like a bunch of five years old, making Jihoon _scared_ – came to mind. _Nevermind, I’d do this for-fucking-ever and I don’t need a reason._

From being strangers to friends, Woojin realized that Jihoon is actually quite fun to be around with. He would counter Woojin’s teasing and jokes easily (but then apologizing profusely because he thought Woojin’s offended), help wake him up when he drifted off to sleep in the middle of a lecture, let Woojin steal his fries and always going along with whatever weird shit Woojin was pulling.

And strangely enough, he didn’t realize it had been almost two weeks– two weeks since Jihoon asked Woojin to help him avoid his bullies and two weeks since Woojin decided that he didn’t really mind having to walk with Jihoon almost every day because he’s a good company– until Jinyoung told him. Being the little shits they are, they never missed an opportunity to tease Woojin about how he’s ditching them for Jihoon and mockingly called him Jihoon’s knight in shining armour. Well, they’re not entirely wrong. Woojin would ditch the Satan’s spawns for Jihoon any day and yeah, he doesn’t mind being called Jihoon’s knight, Knight is cool.

 

 

Unfortunately, he can’t pretend he’s Jihoon’s knight once he woke up from his sleep on a Monday morning. He woke up drenched in his own sweat, with a sore throat and a pounding head; he’s sick.  Woojin hereby declared Monday as the Cursed Day in his life.

Woojin groaned, covering his eyes with his arm; the bright light coming from the opened window making his head pound worse. Jinyoung came into the room right at that moment– probably just finished showering– and watched as Woojin struggled to get up. “Yo, you have a class in like, 30 minutes.”

“I know. That’s why I’m trying to get up, you ass.” Woojin croaked. His throat was parched as fuck there might as well be a sandpaper in his trachea. Woojin tried to locate his phone on his bedside table only to accidentally blind himself as he glanced towards the light outside, worsening his headache in the process.

“Fuck, Jinyoung, close the fucking curtains.”

Jinyoung frowned as he closed the curtains, eyes watching the miserable looking Woojin as he did. “Dude, are you okay?” He grabbed Woojin’s arm and pulled him to sit up properly on the bed (while Woojin protested). “If you still can’t tell, I’m sick.” Woojin sighed and slumped over, massaging his temples gently to lessen the pounding inside his skull. Great, so now how was he supposed to survive the day?

A soft and short vibration from his phone signalled a text he received so Woojin dragged his limb to grab his phone and unlocked it (careful of the brightness from his phone). It was a text from Jihoon, asking him if he should wait at his dorm or the usual place they meet up at. Before he could reply, Jinyoung snatched his phone away, ignoring Woojin’s surprised protest, resulting in a wrestling match over his phone for a few minutes until Jinyoung successfully threw a blanket over Woojin’s head and locked him in place by crossing his ankles around Woojin’s body.

“For fuck’s sake, Jinyoung! You’re lucky I’m sick and weaker today or else you would’ve gotten your ass beat like you usually did!” Woojin wiggled to get out from the blanket, elbowing the laughing Jinyoung while he did. Jinyoung yelped but didn’t waver. Woojin sighed, his energy depleting already, his ill condition catching up to him quickly, so he stopped moving and let his roommate do whatever the fuck he wanted with his phone.

After a few more seconds being inside the suffocating blanket, Jinyoung finally released him, pulling the blanket along with him. He laughed when he was met with Woojin’s piercing glare, that little shit. Woojin slapped on Jinyoung on thigh (receiving a pained groan much to his satisfaction) and snatched his phone back to see what his roommate did.

Park Jihoon  
Should I wait at the usual place or my dorm today?

**_Woojin P._ ** _  
Hewlo, thisf is Wojin’s roommate, Jinyoung. Woojin is sicc so he cant walkz with you today._

**_Park Jihoon_ ** _  
Woojin’s sick? Oh nevermind then! Tell him to stay in bed! I can go by myself. Thank you for letting me know, Jinyoung!_

**_Woojin P._ ** _  
Will do! Sorry for the typos, Woojin’s phone is shitty sometimes!_

**_Park Jihoon_ ** _  
That’s okay!_

At this point, Woojin didn’t even have the will to smack Jinyoung into the 7th dimension. “Sorry dude, I know you’re trying to protect him and all, but you can’t do that when you’re sick.” Jinyoung shrugged and left to get ready for class himself. Woojin reread the text again and sighed; even if it’s painful for him to admit, Jinyoung’s kind of right. He can’t do shit when he’s sick. Woojin hoped the bullies will stay the fuck away from Jihoon or they will catch his hands faster than they can throw an insult at Jihoon.

 

All he did was sleep. Sometimes, he texted Jihoon to make sure he didn’t run into the jerks and Jihoon replied almost immediately to not worry Woojin.

Yeah, Woojin was being protective as fuck, he knew. He also knew that the reason why he’s so damn protective of Jihoon was because he may have a little teeny tiny crush on him. Who wouldn’t, seriously? Sure, Jihoon has terrible fashion sense that Woojin cannot fathom how he could see his wardrobe as acceptable but Jihoon’s attractive in other ways. For example, his big shining brown eyes. They’re lethal, Woojin can’t count on one hand how many times he short-circuited after meeting Jihoon’s eyes. And everything about Jihoon is _soft,_ from the way he speaks, the way he subconsciously fixes his glasses, the way he eats in tiny bites from a bowl bigger than Woojin’s, the way he walks, the way-

 _Well, fuck._ The crush wasn’t _that_ tiny after all.

 

In the middle of his agonizing realization that he likes Jihoon– which meant his friends were _right_ and they’re never going to let him live– a series of knocks stopped him from wriggling pathetically on his bed. Woojin blinked. Any of his friends wouldn’t have bothered knocking to enter so that narrowed down the possible person that could be on the other side of the door. It could be one of his classmates, after realizing how shitty they were as a classmate and was trying to share their notes with Woojin. Or wait, maybe it could be-

Woojin scrambled to untangle himself from his comforter, stumbling to the door after he escaped his bed and threw the door open.

There, standing sheepishly outside was none other than Jihoon himself, holding a paper bag from a pharmacy. Woojin almost, _almost_ throw himself on Jihoon to engulf him in the Biggest Hug ever.

“Hi, I got you some medicines and pills that can help tone down your fever.”

It’s safe to say that Woojin was officially _whipped_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im the worst procrastinator ever which is why this chapter took me months to write  
> and also, the next chapter is the last one /winks/

**Author's Note:**

> How was the first chap????? In case u havent notice, i love adorable stuttering mess Jihoon and cool understanding woojin. 
> 
> Leave kudos/comments if you enjoyed this and i'll love u and 2park forever <3


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